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Old 05-27-2005 | 11:29 AM
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Bax
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From: Monticello, IL
Default RE: HIGH SPEED ELEVATOR STALL?????

While you can stall the wing and get a snap in a loop or steep turn if the elevator travel's too much, you're not getting actual elevator stall. If the horizontal surface stalls, the model will pitch towards the belly. With a conventional setup, the center of lift is aft of the center of gravity, so the horizontal stabilizer makes a down force to counteract the nose-down pitching force that results. If the tailplane stalls, then there's no more downforce, and the airplane will pitch nose down.

Early Cessna 177 Cardinals had problems with stabilator stalls. On landing, the pilot would have the airplane nose high just above the runway trying to get a good, low-speed full-stall landing. At a certain point, the angle of attack of the stabilator would reach the stall angle and the airplane would sharply pitch down. This usually resulted in a damaged nose gear assembly and a bent firewall. Until Cessna cured the problem by adding a slot to the stabilator, landing speeds were restricted to keeping the aircraft above the speed where the stabilator would stall.

With almost all airplanes, though, it's very difficult, it at all possible, to get the horizontal stabilizer to stall.